Steel & Tube Holdings, whose shares have recovered from a 15-year low in the past two months, posted a 9.3 percent decline in full-year underlying profit as it faced increased costs including for substandard products and "intense" rivalry in the local steel market.
Underlying profit was $19.4 million in the year ended June 30, from $21.4 million a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 3 percent to a record $516 million but the gain was swallowed up by selling and administration expenses and a one-off cost impact in the second half related to product quality issues.